TNA No Surrender '09 Fantasy Booking

TNA Wrestling's PPV No Surrender occurs Sunday evening. Now, I haven't watched Impact in awhile. One, I don't have easy access to the show anymore. Two, TNA was one of the reasons I need to take a sabbatical from wrestling. By the time I would watch Impact I discovered that I would fast-forward through most of the show. Three, TNA strayed and continues to stray from the type of product that attracted me to it.

Since I haven't watched the product in awhile, I really can't provide any predictions. I will provide my own personal fantasy booking of this weekend's No Surrender PPV. This is merely the opinion of one wrestling fan.

Rhino vs Bobby Lashley: Rhino has given so much to the company that he deserves more than to just lose to Mr. MMA Bobby Lashley. How about have the match end as draw either by time out or double count out. That way Lashley technically doesn't lose and there can be rematch.

ODB vs Cody Deaner: Unlike the WWE's Women's division, I actually like and respect the Knockouts Division. That fact that guy is wrestling for the title makes the division look like a joke. ODB for the win.

Knockouts Tag Title Tournament: the roster's big enough for tag belts? No comment.

X-Division Championship Match: I like both Daniels and Samoa Joe. In my opinion TNA hasn't done the best for Samoa Joe. They also haven't done the greatest by Daniels either. I'd say Daniels. That way there can be a Joe vs Daniels II.

TNA Lethal Lockdown: I'm all for pushing new talent. British Invasion all the way.

Abyss vs Kevin Nash for Legends Title: Oh yeah, a bounty too. Let's see if I'm dissatisfied with how TNA has handled Samoa Joe, I am very unhappy with how they have treated Abyss. Give the Legends title to Abyss via pinfall. TNA really needs to start push its own talent.

Hernandez vs Eric Young: Eric Young is the leader of a heel stable. Hernandez is a potential top guy. Have Eric Young win here. Hernandez can get revenge later.

Heavyweight Championship four way match: By now, I hope I given the impression that I think TNA needs to start building its own stars. Either Styles or Morgan. Styles deserves the belt; however, Morgan would be the biggest surprise. That surprise could pay dividends.

Longbox Digital Comics

This post over at Flashback Universe reminded about Longbox Digital Comics. Longbox is as the name suggests going to be platform for the distribution of digital comics. Even though I am somwhat of traditionalist when it comes to comics, prefer the floppies and trades, digital comics become more attractive as the months go by. One, I don't have to worry about storage as much as I do now. Two, I can trim my physical copy purchases. Three, I can sample more comics in their entirety without hassle. Last, I have read more comics and comics pages online than physically the last couple months.

As that blog posts asks about wish lists, here are mine.

1) Big publishers as well as smaller publishers. There's nothing wrong with smaller publisher but there's already OBS and Wowio for that.

2) The option to either download or read online.

3) Some measure of interactivy.

4) Cheaper prices than what the print edition costs. Honestly, if I like the work enough I just may buy the physical copy. If it costs the same, I won't.

5) Timeliness. I am all for supporting the shops. However, I don't want to wait at least six months in order to read the comic.

Serenity Today - Changing my Approach

Been about a month since I last updated my blog, merely because I have been spending more time on Facebook rather than updating my blog. Since today is the next Serenity session, I figured I'd comment on some changes I am making. I have learned much on how I should run the game after having ran one module. Here are some changes I am making to my approach.

Pacing for one Act per session
One of the things I am grateful for is that the players have a tendency to cover a lot of ground per session. When it comes to the published Serenity modules they have averaged one or two, sometimes three even, acts every session. So speed isn't a problem. Well, it isn't so much a problem except when it comes to prepping. Unlike the first module, I read the entirety of the second module before running it. Problem is I still felt stilted while running the first act. Why? Because I hadn't given enough preparation and thought to the first act. In many ways that was the same with the first module. So far I hadn't been able to give proper attention to what I running for every session. My solution is to borrow an approach used by a WOTC staffer. I am only going to plan for one segment each session. Once the players reach the end of that prepared segment, the session will be over for the most part. For the current module, that means one act per session. Which happens to work out rather nicely as the module has three acts and an epilogue.

Not running a game of Vampire the Masquerade
Sigh. Everything was going well among the players until this last session. A player that missed the previous module but character was still present did something questionable. Several players were upset about it. Furthermore, I didn't know the player had done that until it the player revealed it in dialogue. To compound matters another player was passing secret notes. I am not running a game of inter-party intrigue ala Vampire the Masquerade. As Jayne's betrayal was hinted at on camera so shall it be with this game. No secret notes. No surprise actions that happened without GM notification. Everything that happens will occur 'on camera'.

If you are not there, your character isn't
I felt that by keeping the non-present PC's with those actually playing would help foster an in-game connection. Last session, I learned that all depends on the player. No more.

The need for a rules helper
Honestly, I haven't been able to devote as much time to both prepping the module and learning the rules as I would like. Today, I plan to appoint one or two rules helpers. On a related note, the assignment idea never happened as I either forgot to assign or no on volunteered.

That's about it for now.

Summerslam is this Sunday...

Well, Summerslam occurs Sunday. Alas, I am working that day so I won't be able to watch it live. So if I watch the PPV it'll be after the fact. Until I looked at the card on WWE.com, I wasn't too terribly impressed with the line-up. John Cena vs Randy Orton? Been done. DX vs Legacy? Predictable. Hardy vs Punk in a TLC match? If Hardy is leaving, the TLC component is the saving grace. Admittedly, WWE main events (on paper) have not impressed me in awhile. So the mid-card generally saves the show for me. We either have decent feuds or matches that should contain excellent wrestling. Therefore, Summerslam '09 while not must-see is a PPV I'd be willing to see.

Next Serenity Session is Tomorrow

Well, tomorrow is the next Serenity game session. In this session, our batch of greenhorns will conclude their attempt to escape from prison alive or not. Right now things are mighty hairy for them with two of their number knocked out. Granted, two of the remaining PC's are Fighting Types but one of them is more of a medic than a fighter. Another one is a non-combatant while the other two will be taking their cue from the movie the GAMERS cause the actual players won't be there.

So with some more combat and possible tense negotiating ahead for our wannabe crew, you can say things are looking very shiny for them indeed. Even if they manage to .... become acquainted... with the ship Freedom's Flight, they have to worry about a little security measure they were told about. Why nothing other than patrol boat that blasts uncleared ships out of the sky. Some fancy flying may be needed. Only then will they escape.

Decided I'd shakes up a little bit and include a teaser for the next session. Once again, the session is going to be ran very rules light. Provided the game gets that far, I won't be using the full space ship rules. Just some simple skill rolls. Afterwards, we'll either have finished the module Freedom's Flight or it'll be time for either new characters or game.

Serenity: Stun, Shock, and Second Wind

At the moment the biggest problem that Serenity game has is Stun and Shock. While the rules in and of themselves aren't bad, the current situation game leads to those rules hindering the flow of the game. Currently, two PC's are out cause of shock. Normally, that wouldn't bother me. However, the PC's are in the middle of a prison break and every character counts especially the pilot.

So what to do? First, I am making a house rule that because game sessions are so short tracking second wind usages is tedious. My house rule is that they'll be once a session. That way stun isn't quite the game killer. Second, I am going to allow the removal of shock points through story manipulation via plot points. Basically, the PC administering the "first aid" spends a significant amount of plots points and makes a token first aid check. If said PC doesn't have any Medical Expertise that player has to spend the upper bracket amount. Then the receiving player gets to make a d12 roll plus second wind if they choose. Any negative happenings will depend on the dictates of the story...

For this module, I'll allow the shocked/stunned PC to gain a 1 to 2 recovery of stun via d12 plus second wind. Shock recovery will be one for one on a d12 plus second wind roll. Granted this only if a player chooses to use plot points to manipulate the story. I hope this ruling not only helps the flow of the current adventure but future mods as well.

I have joined Facebook.

Several months ago (maybe during Spring...), members of my gaming group urged me to join Facebook. That way game related stuff could be disseminated. I agreed but very reluctantly. My reluctance was so great that even with a reminder on one of their blogs, I didn't create an account. Tonight, that changed. I have finally created a facebook account.

To Play Or Not To Play Magic...on Monday

The other day a buddy of mine from high school told me how excited he was about his first draft experience with Magic the Gathering. Anyone who has ever drafted knows how daunting it can be. The first time is generally less than stellar. Well, my old high school buddy was happy that he placed somewhere in the middle. Looking back, that doesn't surprise me. Winning with a bunch of commons and uncommons was one of his strengths.

He suggested that since he may be drafting more that I also attend the Monday drafts. Since M10, the latest magic set, brought back some old favorites (Black Knight, Lightning Bolt), the offer was tempting. However, this Monday that was not to be. I was really itching to see Public Enemies. Alas, that was not to be either. I ate so much for supper that I didn't feel like driving. (Coincidentally, I couldn't read much of anything either which didn't help the Serenity prep.) The next Monday or two may pose a problem as well. I plan on watching the Gi Joe movie as well as Public Enemies. Although the latter is unlikely as its doubtful it will still be in theaters in two weeks.

Once more there is a chance I'll play Magic again. I guess we'll see.

Serenity RPG: Assignments...

After Tuesday night's Serenity session, something dawned on me. Learning the rules as we play is working... but its not. While everyone seems fine with the pace that we are learning the game, afterwards, I discover/realize tidbits that might have helped. Then we get to the next session and I forget all about what I planned on mentioning. To compensate, I plan on borrowing a concept that I thought of during my Shadowrun 3rd edition campaign. I'm thinking of 'assigning' specific section of the rules that individual players should familiarize themselves on. That way I can concentrate on running the game more.

So next session I will bring this idea up. Those that peruse this blog feel free to voice your opinion.

Another Serenity RPG Cram Session Tuesday

On Tuesday, August 4th, I am running another session of my Serenity campaign. Once again, its another cram day. Why? The same reason I haven't updated this blog in awhile. Lack of motivation and concentration. Not from lack of desire. I look forward to future modules and stories both published and homebrew (ie my own creation). My mind contemplates future possiblities, that are also personal for each of, the crew of the (name withheld). Likewise, I have plenty blog about. So why? Cause I haven't. That's the existential reason. Kind of the same reason why this particular blog exists. I chose to.

Enough with rambling anyway. The point is that I have less than 24 hours to prepare for the Serenity session. I reckon I have day's worth of work and only a couple hours to do it. Oh well, it worked last session. Yep, that's right. The second session was overall an enjoyable time. The fine GM tradition of little preparation continues.

Another Round of Links

Since its Monday, I figured I provide another round to various interesting things on web. Hopefully, later today I'll get around to posting a session overview of my first Serenity session.

10 under-rated Classic Who Stories - what the title says. A neat read.

Doctor Who Series 5 Spoiler - links to a bunch of photo stills although this page does provide the major spoiler. If true, Series 5 will have a much different tone than I thought. Hint: the initials R.S.

Matt Smith in Doctor Who Costume - definately not the goth look I thought it was going to be. Like the nice old/young man contrast.

The Comic Book Database - describes itself.

The last three posts of RPGBlog II's Palladium Week Coverage:
Robotech - as mentioned by Jason Marker whose contributing to practically the entire line.
Bill Coffin: Palladium Alumnus
A Look Back

Serenity: Give, or Don't Give, Me Four Secrets

The next Serenity session, this Tuesday, has one major bottleneck. Our crew will have a chance to bond by sharing an event. They get be interrogated together. Here's where we get to the bottleneck. You see the interrogator is not just interrogating them for basic information. Rather, he wants information. Secrets that is. Four of them to be precise. These four secrets should be valuable to the PC. Both valuable and secretive, ie not easily given up, to the PC and interrogator alike.

Normally I wouldn't broadcast this ahead of time. Its a matter of time. I don't want too much session time consumed by players coming up with pertinent secrets of their PC's. So at the beginning of the session, I plan on having the players come up with four questions that there PCs would not easily part with the answers to. For those of my players who read this blog, consider this an advance spoiler.

Castle is Now on Hulu

The ABC show Castle is now available on Hulu. Why is this pertinent to this blog? Very, very tangentially. Nathan Fillion who starred in Firefly/Serenity currently stars in Castle. So for those curious where the actor who play Captain Malcolm Reynolds is up to, here is one of his current roles. While I have seen a couple episodes, I didn't see all of them. Since its now on Hulu, for however long that may be, I have chance to watch the entire show.

Serenity: A House Rule or Two

Since my Serenity game session are roughly three hours long and consists of Greenhorn characters going through Veteran level adventures, I have decided to make a house rule. Instead of excess plot points converting to advancement points at the end of a session, conversion occurs at the end of the adventure. That way the players will have access to more plot points for such challenging adventures.

On a related note, character advancement occurs at the end of the module. Unless it situations warrant, it doesn't make much narrative sense for characters to all of sudden improve during a situation. The Serenity crew didn't advance during the course of a story. Not because of their skill level. Half the crew were awful at combat and had plenty of room to improve in that regard.

Furthermore, I am making a modification to the advancement rules. After the first two modules, two skill can be learned or improved instead of only one. That way the characters can improve a little bit faster.

Distractions

Been meaning to post more especially in regards to my Serenity game. Instead I keep getting distracted. Some are things I normally wouldn't comment on while others I have been meaning to comment on. So I figure I'd just list them as that would be cathartic.

Here they are:
Politics, the economy, and workplace drama - don't want to discuss why on this blog. Suffice it to say I haven't been in the mood to post Serenity stuff all week. Especially today...

The Mishler ramblings on the industry - This occupied a night or two of my time. Spent last night read all three threads on ENWorld. Meant to comment but I have decided against it as it would pointless now.

There's another negative reason, or two actually, why I haven't been in the mood to post more; but I'm not going to mention them here.

Other more blog related reasons:
1) I'm reading X-page previews of comics online again. I used to check out the preview pages of the next week's comics all the time. Stopped doing that for a couple years. Only recently have I started reading comics previews on Newsarama. So yeah I have been reading some comics, albeit only five or six pages. Its been reinvigorating.

2) Been working on storing my comics as well as figure out what trimming my pull list. Hit a bottleneck on the former. That has prompted me to focus on what to cut from my comics pull list. I admit that its funny that not keeping up with everything that I purchase doesn't discourage me but storage issues does. That may or may not lead to future post.

3) Worked and turned in my July-September Previews order at my LCS. Took a lot of time. Plus I had to resist the urge to add a lot of stuff. May actually comment on the comics/books I decided not to pre-order.

4) The 50% off Criterion Collection at Barnes and Noble has drawn a lot of attention. Fellini's 8 and half served as a major influence on LARP I ran several years ago and thus has been an item I have wanted for awhile now. Ditto Seven Samurai - although that didn't influence any game I ran, directly anyway. Because its a major influence of Star Wars, Hidden Fortress has been on my radar. Only now have I found a copy available. While browsing the sale, other Criterion Collection movies have grabbed my attention. Sigh...

First 3 Days of RPG Blog II Palladium Coverage

In celebration of both another Tuesday Night Rifts session and more Palladium content on the blogosphere, I figured I'd provide links to the first three days worth of Palladium coverage on RPG Blog II. Haven't read them yet. When I do I may provide my comments.

Mega-Interview with Kevin Siembieda - a recent, as in July-ish, interview with the main man at Palladium.

Being a Palladium Freelancer - Interview with Jason Richards - contains a nice summation of Chaos Earth among other things.

Into the Fire: Tips for Running Rifts - title says it all. I do have an opinion on some of the tips...

Links to some neat blog posts

Another light post. I figured I'd provide some links to some blog posts I liked on the blogsphere.

Luck a neat OSRIC/1E/other earlier D&D simulacra house rule from Mike Mearls - Does I nice job of spicing up what would otherwise be an "aw shucks" moment. Also, not unbalancing.

A quick crit rule - an elegantly simple rule from RPG Blog II. Definately beats rolling on random tables.

Brave Halfling Publishing abandons OSR - read this on Beyond the Black Gate Blog. Find it interesting the BHP is leaving the Old School Rennaissance publishing. Although I can understand why given the reasons provided...

The Problem with Weapon Proficiencies - a well-written arguement against weapon proficiencies courtesy of Beyond the Black Gate.

Herculoids converted to AD&D stats - I'm always a sucker for pop culture character adaptations to game rules. For fans of the Herculoids here's a link to link. Haven't actually gone to the specific link yet...

Hackmaster Basic is out...

Well, Hackmaster Basic is available. Just trying to figure out how and when I want to acquire a copy. Do I order a copy through my LGS or through Kenzer? Wait until August or order it now?

Trying to resist spending too much time on Kenzer boards. After all, I have a Serenity game to prepare for. That and I want to watch Transformers 2 tonight...